Stakeholder Participation for Climate Adaptation The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts Northeast Climate Science Center Colloquium April 18, 2012 David S. Liebl

Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) Organization: UW-Nelson Institute and WI –DNR Funding bootstrapped from existing programs Participants contributing in-kind effort Objectives: Assess and anticipate climate change impacts on specific Wisconsin natural resources, ecosystems and regions

WICCI Goal - Build Stakeholder Capacity - See the impacts of climate - Understand the science - Appreciate the time scale - Discover adaptation strategies - Implement and manage adaptation Seeing and adapting to change requires time and attention

WICCI Chronology 2007 – WI-DNR and UW-Nelson Institute collaborate to organize WICCI WICCI climate change briefing to Wisconsin Legislature Feedback: “What does this mean for Wisconsin? “ “What am I supposed to tell my constituents?” Chris Kucharik conducts analysis of Wisconsin Cooperative Weather Stations data WICCI Science Council organized WICCI Stakeholder Interaction  

2008 – WICCI working groups organized  WICCI Climate Working Group begins development of GCM downscaling methodology 2011 – Release of Wisconsin’s Changing Climate  2009 – WICCI Advisory Committee convened  First all-Working Group workshop  WICCI Outreach Roundtable organized  State-wide broadcast of Bracing for Impacts lecture series 

Climate Change Stakeholders?

WICCI Message Our climate has, and will continue to change Are we prepared to adapt? It’s about people

WICCI Stakeholders Decision Makers: - Scientists: UW-System, State and federal agencies - Local, state and tribal government - Natural resource and infrastructure managers People affecting other people’s lives

Identify critical or emerging scientific questions related to WICCI’s mission Organize and coordinate Working Groups Provide leadership on climate change impact issues in Wisconsin WICCI Science Council Members from an array of disciplines and expertise within the UW System, WDNR,other state and federal agencies, universities and institutions.

WICCI Advisory Committee 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Alliant Energy American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Citizen-Based Monitoring Network of Wisconsin Clean Wisconsin Cool Choices Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission Grow North Regional Economic Development Corporation League of Wisconsin Municipalities Madison & Dane County Public Health Dept. Natural Areas Preservation Council New North, Inc. Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin SC Johnson Second Look Holsteins We Energies Wisconsin Association for Floodplain Stormwater & Coastal Management Wisconsin Basin Education Initiative Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative Wisconsin Conservation Congress Wisconsin Council on Forestry Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation Wisconsin Environmental Initiative Wisconsin Paper Council Wisconsin Public Service Commission Wisconsin Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Wisconsin Towns Association Wisconsin Wetlands Association Wisconsin Wildlife Federation Representing stakeholder organizations

WICCI Working Groups Water Resources Soil Conservation Agriculture Adaptation Plants & Natural Communities Central Sands Hydrology Forestry Coastal Communities Green Bay Wildlife Stormwater Coldwater Fish Milwaukee Human Health Wisconsin Climate

Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities pertinent to working group topic or geographic region Summarize existing information on climate change impacts Identify data and research needed to assess future impacts Recommend adaptation strategies Working Groups (i.e. learning communities) Working Group Objectives: Working Groups are a statewide mix of researchers, managers, and practitioners with expertise in the topic area or geographic region being assessed. Members come from WDNR, other state and federal agencies, UW system, non-profit organizations, and private sector.

WICCI Working Group Collaborators Federal U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Forest Service U.S. Geological Survey State State of Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Wisconsin Conservation Congress Wisconsin Council on Forestry Wisconsin Department of Transportation Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wisconsin Emergency Management Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Wisconsin Public Service Commission Wisconsin State Climatology Office Wisconsin State Legislature Tribal Groups Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission Local/Municipal City of Fitchburg Engineering City of Madison Storm Water Utility City of Racine Water & Wastewater Utility Columbia County Land & Water Conservation Dane County Land Conservation Division Greater Milwaukee Committee League of Wisconsin Municipalities Madison & Dane County Public Health Department Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Wisconsin Towns Association Universities Lakehead University UW Extension UW Sea Grant UW-Engineering Professional Development UW-Green Bay UW-La Crosse UW-Madison UW-Milwaukee UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER Institute UW-Stevens Point NGO's 1000 Friends of Wisconsin American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Clean Wisconsin Education Communications Board Fox-Wolf Rivers Environmental History Project Grow North Regional Economic Development Corporation, Inc. Natural Areas Preservation Council Nature Net New North, Inc. Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Second Look Holsteins The Association of State Floodplain Managers The Nature Conservancy Trout Unlimited Wisconsin Citizen-Based Monitoring Network Wisconsin Environmental Initiative Wisconsin River Alliance Wisconsin Paper Council Wisconsin Wetlands Association Wisconsin Wildlife Federation Private Sector AECOM Alliant Energy HNTB Corporation Montgomery Associates-Resource Solutions MSA Professional Services, Inc. S.C. Johnson Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. We Energies

Establishing Stakeholder Relationships WICCI Stormwater Working Group - Ken Potter, David Liebl Connecting Hydrologic Research With Water Resource Practice NOAA-SARP Developing Tools and Long-Term Strategies to Allow Water Resources Managers to Respond Effectively to Climatic Variability Workshop 1: Orientation to Climate Change; Identifying Implications of Climatic Variability for Water Resource Management, July 10, 2008 Workshop 2: Responding Effectively to Climatic Variability: Understanding Impacts and Response, January 15, 2009 Workshop 3: Multi-sensor Measurement of Precipitation, August 11, WICCI Stormwater Working Group Stormwater Management in a Changing Climate: Managing High Flow and High Water Levels in Wisconsin Process: Engage stakeholder groups in meaningful work Continue valuable stakeholder relationships Include new stakeholders over time Fostering collaboration

Outcomes of collaboration Changes: Climate Trends in Wisconsin Understanding Adaptation Impacts: Water Resources Natural Habitat and Biodiversity Agriculture and the Soil Resource Coastal Resources People and their Environment Actions: Implementing Adaptation Moving Forward

WICCI Outreach Roundtable Academic UW-Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences UW-Center for Biology Education UW-Engineering Professional Development UW-Environmental Resources Center UW-Journalism & Mass Communication UW-Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies UW-Soil Sciences UW-Space Science & Engineering Center UW-Wildlife Ecology Extension Ashland and Bayfield County UW-Extension Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center St. Croix River Basin UW-Extension Shawano County UW-Extension UW-Extension STEM WI Educational Communications Board Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey Wisconsin Sea Grant Agency Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources NGO Aldo Leopold Foundation Aldo Leopold Nature Center Clean Wisconsin Wisconsin Maritime Museum Representing education providers

International ScienceWisconsin Science WICCI Working Groups Science Council WICCI Outreach and Communications WICCI Advisory Committee WICCI Website WICCI Publications WICCI Working Groups WICCI Briefings New Working Groups WICCI Partners DNRAldo Leopold Nature Center NOAA, OSU Lake Superior Bi-National Program Clean Wisconsin UWM School of Freshwater Science USGS Manitowoc Maritime Museum UW-Extension Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Educational Communications Board WI Geological Natural History Survey NC SARE Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals Great Lakes Regional Water Program Co-Op Extension Climate Literacy Team Nelson Institute UW-Madison Center for Biology Education School of Public health Sea GrantCivil & Environmental Engineering State Climatologist CALS Center for Climate Research, CISMSS Impact: Wisconsin Regional WICCI Outreach Roundtable WICCI Information Flow

Climate Change Outreach Challenges “Climate change? What climate change?” The historical record can be convincing… But climate projections may not persuade “How hot? When?” Long projected dates vs. short planning horizons “Between 4” and 9” of rainfall?” Model uncertainty + climate variability vs. municipal budgets “OK, so what do we do now?” More adaptation strategies are needed

WICCI Stakeholder Outreach Strategies Integration of climate into ongoing outreach programs Develop standardized climate outreach materials Climate literacy for UW-Extension, DNR staff and other partners Feedback to WICCI on information and research needs

Communicating with stakeholders Not everyone learns by reading

climatewisconsin.org “Gikinoo’wizhiwe Onji Waaban (Guiding for Tomorrow) Culture and Climate Change Initiative Dolly Ledin UW-Institute for Biology Education

Workshops Attendees = % thought that information from WICCI that was used to describe projected climate impacts and adaption strategies was the most useful. 79% believed that the information presented was applicable to future decision making. 93% will share workshop information with colleagues that could not attend. Becky Sapper

DNR Adaptation Workshops 142 DNR program mangers and supervisors Internal team guided development and promoted workshop Significant individual time commitment (moderate) (avoidance) (minimal) (none) Pre-survey: - knowledge - attitude - implementation - public interaction

Post-workshop feedback Increased knowledge of climate’s impact on resource management Understanding that adaptation is necessary to resource management Communication of climate concepts to staff Integration of climate into planning activities Identified adaptation research needs Legitimized “changing climate” within the organizational culture

Program Areas 4-H/Youth Development Agriculture and Natural Resources Community, Natural Resources and Economic Development Family Living Programs Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey 72 County offices 9 UW campuses ~600 faculty & staff Clients Local Government Ag Producers Small Business Families UW-Cooperative Extension Training

Post-pilot Feedback Lead with concrete examples of climate's relevance to Extension outreach programs Weave climate science into a narrative that leads to present understanding Utilize more video material to illustrate key concepts Avoid polarizing social references (e.g. politics, gender Translation: “We’d like to understand this well enough to engage in dialog with community leaders (BTW, can we have your slides?)

Stakeholder Engagement Lessons Learned Climate change is a really big concept WICCI chose adaptation as a focus Everything/everybody is stakeholder WICCI’s message is aimed at decision makers People learn from their peers Be strategic in your choice of stakeholder representatives The discussion has been co-opted by competing interests Keep it science based (i.e. stay out of the controversy)

Stakeholder relationships are essential Spend time and energy developing and maintaining them Audiences can be huge Leverage your effectiveness by working with other providers Continuously improve your approach Evaluate – modify – evaluate Don’t expect the world (or people) to change overnight Provide realistic achievable options Stakeholder Engagement Lessons Learned

Climate changes over long periods of time (hopefully) Adapting to historic change is easy to understand Anticipating the future is challenging We all learn in our own way Use multiple ways of getting your message across Science literacy is not widespread Be clear, but avoid “dumbing down” the data Stakeholder Engagement Lessons Learned

These figures represent the same concept Both are mysterious to a nontechnical audience Take-home message: Wetter - Not drier Vavrus

Climate changes over long periods of time (hopefully) Adapting to historic change is easy to understand Anticipating the future is challenging We all learn in our own way Use multiple ways of getting your message across Science literacy is not widespread Be clear, but avoid “dumbing down” the data We all have different sets of shared values Connect your message with all of your audience Stakeholder Engagement Lessons Learned

Temperature Impacts on Wildlife Winners: Short generation times Wide distributions Move easily across landscape General habitat requirements Not sensitive to human activity Losers: Long generation times Narrow distributions Poor dispersal ability Special habitat requirements Sensitive to human activity Eastern Red-backed Salamander American Marten Prairie Chicken Karner Blue Butterfly

Temperature Impacts on Humans Higher summer daytime temperature = increases in ozone Source: Holloway et al Chicago More high dewpoint days and nights = heat stress Mark Seeley, UMn

Stakeholder Participation for Climate Adaptation The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts Northeast Climate Science Center Colloquium April 18, 2012 David S. Liebl